Dav ab Harmon Paddock
Dav ab Harmon Paddock, Patriarch of the Holy Order, Overlord of Tubor, Master of Charali, and fifth King of Lithmore, was the initiator of the Davite Consolidation, and founder of The Order of King Dav. He began the Inquisition into the Heresy of Magic in SC 109 after the brutal murder of his family by mages who are said to have objected to a Point of Order made by the king in High Court. King Dav was a man of many firsts, among them the creation of the post of Grand Inquisitor (only much later would a Cardinal be created to assist in the governing of the Dav's Order), and his elevation above the Bishops of the land as the Most Holy Canonical member of the Order. The Grand Inquisitor became the foremost person in the quest to root out Magic in the land, and had wide latitude in his policies. The Grand Inquisitor also was titled Prelate, and by right of office was accorded a seat on the Royal Council. That same year, Dav elevated one Knight Lithmorran to the title of Knight of the Chalice, and placed him over all other Knights as the Supreme Commander. The Supreme Commander, traditionally, holds the title of Earl Marshall - the military commander of the Realm. A brilliant battle commander - some say the best to ever walk the land, Dav was routed only once in battle, and he quickly took steps to ensure that never happened again. Indeed, perhaps only the Charali nation suffered more under his conquest than those who had once bested him in battle - for all of the Vavardi rulers were put to the blade upon their capitulation. Dav began with the conquest of his nearest neighbor, the Grand Duchy of Vandago, a vassal of the island kingdom of Tubor. With his armies massed at the border, Duke Jaren of Tubor came forth, and yielded his sword - and his lands - to the Kingdom of Lithmore. Jaren, in doing so, spared his land the bloodshed others saw, while at the same time handing to Dav an army capable of besting any other which could be fielded, for the combined forces of Lithmore and Vavard were the largest military group to ever rally. Jaren was also the only conquered leader to reap any sort of benefit from the ashes of defeat - for he not only remained a Duke, now under the auspices of Lithmore, but also was titled General, and trusted with Dav's northern army. After Vandago's defeat, Dav concentrated on wearing down the Tubori nation. They were not truly beaten, however, until Dav imported horse to the island, that he could counter the flanking moves of the Tubori Lancers. To do so, he inundated the Charali plains with his army, capturing every horse possible, and not sparing the people there. The Charali conquest was called the 30 Days War, but massacre is a better word - the Charali had no standing army, nor any means of defense - they were (and remain) hunter-gatherers, and herdsmen. With the new cavalry influx, Dav was able to defeat Tubor, and absorbed the former Kingdom into his lands, then turned south, and absorbed the Barons of Warsalus (once known as the Kingdom of Farin, now titled the Duchy of Farin). After the defeat of Farin, and the conquest of Tubor, Dav turned his eye to the Principality of Vavard. Vavard, the nation founded by the Merchant Princes who fled his land upon hearing his Declarations, was twice damned - once for turning their back upon their King, and the other for handing Dav his only defeat during the Consolidation. No mercy was shown to the ruling class; all were hanged before the city gates. For reasons only known to Dav, he stopped his conquest after Vavard, and never sought to battle the Sultanate of Daravi - that land which lay south of the Tarn Mountains, beyond Farin. After his conquest, Dav remarried, and saw that members of his line were established in the existing Duchies of Farin, Vandago, and Vavard. Tubor he saw as an island jewel, and not worthy of his familial name. King Dav was assassinated in 144 by an unknown faction. Category:Davism Category:History Category:People